FGF Extra! New Orange Alpine 160

No sooner had we pressed publish on this week’s edition of Fresh Goods Friday than there was a knock on the door. Jono from Orange had popped round to drop off this redesigned, never-seen-before Orange Alpine 160. Rather than wait until next week we thought we’d give you a quick rundown on it now.

The travel stays the same (at 160mm unsurprisingly) but there is much changed. Sizing has been tweaked to better tie in with the rest of the range, this medium equates to a 17in frame with a 23.6in effective top tube. It’s lighter than its predecessor thanks to tube tinkering, especially around the front of the swingarm and by using a folded and welded toptube rather than the previous formed tube. We can see people who may have considered a Five AM plumping for this instead as it offers more travel for a pretty similar weight.

This is the ‘RS’ spec Alpine, sporting a 1×10 Zee and Raceface drivetrain, SLX brakes, Fox 34 160 fork, Fox Float RP23 shock and Reverb post. £3600 to you. There will be a lower specced version with a double and bash and non-Kashima coated bouncy bits.

The sliding shock shuttle is back! Last seen on the Patriot it’s been away for a while but it’s returned on the new Alpine. By swapping position you can change the headangle by a degree. Orange reckons that it only adds 20g to the weight of the frame and people who buy this kind of bike like the opportunity to fiddle with their geometry.

Following on with that fiddling theme, the 1.5in headtube opens up plenty of options for angle adjust headsets and various fork steerers. It’s also lighter and gives a bigger weld area than a taper head tube, so it’s good news all round.

One set of big bearings. Simplicity has always been Orange’s strong point and that hasn’t changed.

This bike will be appearing in the bike test in issue 82, out at the beginning of June, so make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss out.

Comments (14)

Frame only option? If so, how much?
How much does it weigh? “Similar to a Five AM” What’s that?
Stealth Reverb Routing? IE Hole in seat-tube and/or downtube – surely this ought to be compulsory now for any full build?

Frame only price: Not sure, will find out.
Weight: That one up there is 32lbs.
Stealth routing: One man’s clean-lined-hose-dream is another man’s hard-to-adjust-nightmare I guess. Again, will find out the thinking behind it.